Nichols accuses 3rd man in attack

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OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) -- Saying he wanted to set the record straight, Oklahoma City bombing conspirator Terry Nichols has accused a man never charged in the 1995 attack with providing some of the explosives.

In a letter from prison, Nichols said Arkansas gun collector Roger Moore gave the explosives to bomber Timothy McVeigh and also provided additional bomb components recently found in Nichols' former Kansas home.

Nichols wrote the letter to Kathy Sanders, who lost two grandchildren in the bombing and has been investigating it independently. A copy of the letter, first disclosed in a Los Angeles Times report, was obtained yesterday by the Associated Press from Mrs. Sanders' literary agent, Jim Baird.

Mr. Moore has denied any involvement in the bombing and testified against Nichols about a robbery of guns and other property from his home.

In the early stages of the bombing investigation, the FBI looked at Mr. Moore because of his anti-government views and close relationship with McVeigh. He was never charged.

Nichols' letter was part of recent correspondence with Mrs. Sanders. Nichols, 50, said in the letter that he wanted to speak out because he "felt the record should be set straight."

The letter was dated April 18, the day before the 10-year anniversary of the federal building bombing that killed 168 persons. McVeigh was executed in June 2001.

Nichols said in the handwritten, four-page letter that FBI tests of bomb components found about a month ago at his former home in Herington, Kan., would support his claim that they came from Mr. Moore and Mr. Moore's girlfriend, Karen Anderson.

"That case of nitromethane came directly from Roger Moore's Royal, Arkansas, home, and his prints should be found on that box and/or tubes, and Karen Anderson's prints may be there as well," Nichols wrote.

"The Fed Gov't knows of Roger Moore's corrupt activities, and they are protecting him and covering up his involvement with McVeigh at the OKC bombing!" Nichols wrote.

Miss Anderson also testified against Nichols about the robbery.

FBI agents searched the Herington home on March 31. Officials said agents found blasting caps and other explosive materials, apparently related to the 1995 attack, buried in a crawl space that hadn't been checked earlier.

An FBI spokesman in Kansas City, Mo., Jeff Lanza, said yesterday that material found at the home, which he would not identify, was being examined for fingerprints and other evidence. He said that there is no indication this material came from Mr. Moore and that Nichols' letter would not lead to a new investigation.

"We believe the information that came out of the original investigation, and we stand by the results of that investigation," Mr. Lanza said.

Nichols has been convicted twice -- in federal court and in an Oklahoma state court -- and is serving two life sentences without parole.